Electroplating rack



April 25, 1950 M. s. SCHNEIDER 2,505,212 ELECTROPLATING RACK Filed Feb. 25, 1946 [Ugh-r mmvrok.

- Wan/gem Patented Apr. 25, 1950 STATES PTENT OFFICE ELECTROPLATING' RACK Max' Stefan Schneider, Ghicagm, Ill.

Application February ZS, 1946', Serial N 0. 6493706 1 Glaimi '(Cl. file-1'13) This invention relates to an. electroplating rack, and more particularly to a rack having combined therewith an anode unit-of adjustable characteristics. 7

In production plating it is preferred that; racks having provision to hold a plurality" of" like articlesbe of a type capable oil adjustment: to ac. commoda-te articles: of different shapes and sizes. Heretofore racks for that purpose have been provided with sets ofbrackets rigidly afiixed to a main supporting bar, the distribution and spacing of the brackets being determined by the configuration of the. articles being: piatedi However, this necessitates a-specificra'ckior each lot being processed and a consequent? large investment' in racks; which are not usable for other articles.

Racks having adjustable article supports have been used, but since rubber coating of racks is almost universal, the screws or clamps provided for adj'ustably securing; the supports: to. the principal rack member damage the rubber coating and seriously detract from its protective function;

Moreover;. in. plating: aperturedarticles it has been found that. proper deposition on the ire ternat surfaces is. attained only when an additional anode is. positioned: the aperture; Prior devices included tracks: having accessory anodes which were fabricated to suit each: lot" of partsv being plated so that for different parts anotherset: of accessory anodes'had: to be: provided, all of which is expensive and slows production.v

Having in view the aforesaid and other shortcomings: of. certain prior formsof apparatus, my

invention has for a principat'obiect the provision of ail-plating rack: haying adjustable article-supporting arms shiitable to: selected positions on theprincipal supporting bar without damage to the rubbery coating thereon.

- Another principal object; is toprovide in an electroplating rack an anode structure adapted to be supported on the main; bar of the rack; and having a plurality of anodes, one individual to eachot a plurality of identical: articles but adjustable tosuittthe requirements: of another plurality' of like articles dissimilar to said other plurality. 1}

A further: object is to provide aniarticle-supporting member securabie to the main support.- ing bar of a. plating rack without the use of screws or other elements likely torginjure. the rubbery coating; the member including a U- shaped: resilient portion adaptecl to be clamped "om therubbery suriace without the or tools 2 and instantaneously shiftable with respect to the main bar aforesaid.

Still another object is to provide an adjust,- able anode structure which may be readily detached from the main rack bar when not req-uired and to thus permit the rack to be used for articles not requiring the accessory anode, the structure including finger-operated-clamps engageablewith the: main bar.

In carrying out my invention in one form I provide-a principal body memberhavingjmeans for supportingthe rack on the bus bar of. the electroplating tank, and carrying a plurality of adjustably secured, transversely disposed article' supports, the: supports having two opposed arms extending from a central saddle having means for securing the support to the body mem-- her. I In article-clamping relation to'each of the aforesaid supports isanother two-armed clamping member of resilient metal having a U- shaped centrally disposed portion adapted to pinch the rubbery coating of the body member for adjustably securing, the clamping member. Supported, as by clamps, on the body member is the adjustable anode structure including a framework carrying a plurality of rods of a selected diameter adapted to be: positioned in an aperture oteach of the articles to be plated, each rod being adjustable transversely in two perpendicular directions and the entire framework being adjustable vertically.

For a more complete understanding of the invention, reference should now be had to the drawing, in which:

Fig. 1- is, a front elevational View of the rack includin the adjustable anode. structure: with certain repeated portions omitted;

2 is a side elevational detail of the upper portion of the rack and anode structure;

Fig. 3. is an side elevational detail of the lower portion of the rack and anode structure;

'Fig; 4 is a cross-sectionalview taken in the plane represented by the line 4-4 of Fig; l; and

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken in the plane-represented by the line 5-5' of Fig. 1

Now referring to the drawing, I have shown a rack, comprising a vertically disposed, elongated, principal body member is having a metali'io core I l of any suitable crosssection,v e. g-., flat oval as shown, and covered with a rubbery coating 12: to inhibit deposit of plating metal thereon as; is. well known in the art. At. its up.- per extremity the bodyimemberit is free of coating and receives'in tace-to-face relation. with the core: it a metallicz'rack-suspending hook 1:3

for carrying the rack as a whole upon the bus bar (not shown) of the electroplating tank. T align core H and hook l3 the latter may terminate in a bifurcated end M, the two parts of which overlap the edges of the core H; and for securing core H and hook l3, there is provided a U-shaped clamp l5 including a threaded tightening member It serving also as a handle for the rack whereby the body portion thereof may be immersed in or removed from the electrolyte.

The rack of the invention is primarily intended for production runs, i. e., the holding of a plurality of identical articles. Accordingly the body IE1 is provided with a plurality of transverse, dual, article-supporting arms 2|, for example as disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 593,441, filed May 12, 1945, and will therefore be referred to only briefly. Such arms 2| include a body-engaging portion 22 and two pairs of oppositely extending article-engaging fingers 23, each arm 2| being adjustably secured to the body In. The fingers 22 may be of V- form for reception and securement of articles to be plated. As shown. the fingers 23 are coated with the rubbery material except where the articles are held.

Disposed above each arm 2| is a co-operative article-holding clamp 25 of resilient wire also coated with rubbery material. Each terminus of the clamps 25 may be undulate to provide a plurality of article-engaging notches 26 whereby certain forms of articles may be supported in a variety of planes with respect to the V-shaped ends of the arms 2! and as pointed out in my copending application Serial No. 649,707, filed February 23, 1946.

For adjustably securing the clamps 25 to the cushioned surface of the body H], the same are made with a U-shaped central portion or saddle 2'! resulting from appropriate bending of the wire upon, itself, the conformation of the portion 2! being such as to substantially embrace the body is while dis osing the notches 26 centrally of the fin ers 23 (Fig. 4). Due to the resiliency of the wire forming the clamps 25, they may be manually sprung to open the bight of the saddle 27 to disengage a clamp from the body and to re-locate the same in another vertical position. Thus various sizes of articles may be interposed between the clamps 25 and fingers 23. Moreover, the resiliency of both said clamps and fingers enables more secure Support of the articles.

In Figs. 1 and 3 I have shown. by way of example, tubular ob ects 3! supported by the rack for plating. To eifect proper plating of the interior wall of the object, it is necessary, as previously pointed out, to insert thereinto an auxiliary anode connected to the source of electrical current, as will be understood in this art. Inasmuch as the 'article-suporting members are adjustable vertically, I have provided a novel form of anode structure now to be described.

Such structure includes a vertically disposed principal frame member 33 laterally spaced from and parallel to the body NJ and of any preferred cross section, for example, square as shown, and having a flattened upper extremity 34 apertured at 35 for reception of a terminal bolt (not shown) by which is attached the cable carrying current to the anode structure. At its upper and lower ends the member 33 has brackets 35 and 31, respectively, attached thereto as by welding or soldering. The brackets 36 and 31 are bent and oifset to extend transversely of the body l0, and are provided with fibre shoes 38 and 39 (Fig. 5) appropriately notched to fit over the coating l2. A bearing plate 42 and thumbscrews 43 permit the shoes 38 and 39 to be drawn together, whereby the anode frame may be temporarily secured in selected vertical positions relatively to the body In to permit vertical location of the several anodes with respect to the articles being processed.

Extending laterally from two opposed faces of the member 33 (Fig. 4) and threadedly inserted therein is th plurality of pairs of rods 45 locked by nuts 46 against unintended loosening and to provide suitable electrical contact, there being a rod associated with each set of fingers 23. Slidably fitted over each rod 45 is a connector 41 provided with an aperture 48 therein. To secure the connectors 41 in selected positions longitudinally of the rods 45, the thumbscrews 5| are provided. Extending perpendicularly to the rods 45 is the plurality of anodes 52 passing through apertures 53 in the connectors 4'1 and variably secured therein by thumbscrews 54. Thus it will be noted that the anodes 52 are adjustable longitudinally in the connectors 41 and may be moved laterally to effect a variety of positions thereof. Moreover, the anodes 52 may occupy various angular positions about the rods 45. Additionally, the entire assembly of anodes may be unitarily shifted vertically by manipulating the thumbscrews 43. It is within the contemplation of the invention to substitute for the threaded junctions of the rods 45 with the member 33 connectors similar to connectors 41 for allowing independent adjustment of the rods vertically as well as angularly about the axis of the member 33.

Accordingly, apertured articles may be supported in a position best adapted for insertion of the anodes, and the anodes adjusted to optimum position within the apertures, for example in alignment with the longitudinal axis of the objects 3!.

If the rack is to be used for articles not requiring the auxiliary anodes 52, the entire anode structure may be detached from the rack proper by freeing the clamps constituted by the shoes 38 and 39, thus reducing the weight of the rack assembly a substantial degree.

If desired, the supports 2! may be permanently attached to the body Ill in predetermined spaced-apart relation, or alternatively both supports 2| and arms 25 may be permanently so affixed, the resiliency of the members permitting simple engagement and disengagement of the articles held thereby.

While I have shown a particular embodiment of my invention, it will be understood, of course, that I do not wish to be limited thereto since many modifications may be made, and I therefore contemplate by the appended claim to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

An electroplating rack comprising in combination a single, elongated, substantially flat body REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 357,554 Goodrich et al. Feb. 8, 1887 623,027 Mills, Jr Apr. 11, 1899 846,674 Lamb Mar. 12, 1907 936,276 Bewyer Oct. 5, 1909 1,129,241 smith Feb. 23, 1915 1,715,411 Di Cesare June 4, 1929 1,749,953 Lichtman Mar. 11, 1930 2,258,391 Novitsky Oct. 7, 1941 2,324,342 Wellman July 13, 1943 

